royal fireworks language arts by michael clay thompson ......voc means voice. in other words,...
TRANSCRIPT
4PRACTICE IIOne Hundred Four-Level Analysis Practice Sentences
A Supplement to The Magic Lens II, The Word Within the Word II, and Poetry, Plato, and the Problem of Beauty
Teacher Manual
Michael Clay Thompson
Royal Fireworks PressUnionville, New York
Royal Fireworks Language Arts by Michael Clay Thompson
4
GRAMMAR IS A WAY OF THINKING ABOUT LANGUAGE.
8 Parts of Speechnoun, pronoun, adjective, verb, adverb, conjunction, preposition, interjection
5 Parts of Sentencesubject, predicate, direct object, indirect object,subject complement
Phrasesprepositional phrase, appositive phrase, verbal phrases
Clausesindependent clause, dependent clause
5
GRAMMAR IS A WAY OF THINKING ABOUT LANGUAGE.
Notes to Teachers
4Practice II has two practical purposes: practice and unification.
Practice: This book presents a collection of four-level analysis sentences for year-long practice and improvement in a sequence of graduated difficulty that will let students begin with the basics and work up through increasing complexity.
Unification in the Writing Process: The second purpose of this practice book is to overcome the damaging misconception that the different aspects of language arts are separate and disconnected. Students are all too likely to think of grammar as a useless tedium, to think that vocabulary and grammar have nothing to do with one another, to think that poetics is of interest only to poets, and to think that none of these is relevant to writing. The format of these pages presents students with an indelible image of how the writing process subsumes grammar, vocabulary, and poetics into a single coherent system of communication.
In each sentence students will see all four levels of grammar simultaneously, they will see the words or stems from The Word Within the Word II, and they will see an element of poetics that they have encountered in Poetry, Plato, and the Problem of Beauty or another of my poetry texts. It all comes together on each page, just as it does in the actual process of writing.
4Practice II provides one hundred practice sentences that instructors can use to supplement the work begun in The Magic Lens II and The Word Within the Word II. Those two books provide the instruction for the four-level method of grammar analysis, which overcomes the perils of studying grammar elements in isolation by presenting all four levels of grammar in a simple, visual, easy-to-learn format. In four-level analysis, students quickly realize that all sentences are similar, arranging eight kinds of words into the subject and predicate sides of each clause. Students soon realize that they are seeing the exact same (simple) patterns over and over again.
6
GRAMMAR IS A WAY OF THINKING ABOUT LANGUAGE.
Flexibility: 4Practice II has been prepared with the goals of maximum simplicity and flexibility in mind. It is organized in the most straightforward and uncomplicated form possible: one hundred sentences of four-level analysis, generally beginning with the least difficult sentences, and roughly grouped into four chapters of twenty-five sentences each for the four levels of grammar. The first twenty-five sentences (Chapter One) feature parts of speech, the second chapter features the parts of sentence, the third the phrases, and the fourth the clauses. All four chapters, however, do analyze all four levels. There is no expectation that every sentence in the book be done or that they be done in the precise order that they appear. Rather, this is a collection you can draw from freely and creatively to enhance and continue the learning initiated in The Magic Lens II and The Word Within the Word II.
The 4Practice II teacher manual and student book are designed to be ultra-low cost so that the student books can be consumable. Each student can have a student book and can work in the blank spaces. If you use The Magic Lens II alone, then 4Practice II allows you to follow that instruction with several example sentences per week for the entire year. The sentences can be assigned as homework, as Socratic discussions, or as in-class written assignments. If you use both The Magic Lens II and The Word Within the Word II, then 4Practice II will show students over and over how their vocabulary can only be correctly applied if the words follow the grammar rules, i.e., insidious is an adjective; there is no such thing as an insidious.
Written Assignments: For written assignments done as in-class activities or as written homework, there are a few ideas that make the process clear and straightforward. There is a sentence at the top of each page with four lines beneath it. The first line is for the abbreviations of the parts of speech, the second for the parts of sentence, the third for phrases, and the fourth for clauses. Abbreviations need not be used if space permits.
7
GRAMMAR IS A WAY OF THINKING ABOUT LANGUAGE.
For example, if the sentence were “The die was irrevocably cast when Caesar ordered his army to cross the Rubicon,” one could write the abbreviations of the parts of speech directly below each word in the first line, the parts of sentence in the second, phrases in the third, and clauses in the fourth. For phrases and clauses, you would make little lines to show where the phrase or clause begins and ends. Notice that every word is a part of speech, but only some words are a part of sentence. Each answer should be written straight down from its target.
The abbreviations used in 4Practice II are:
Parts of Speech Parts of Sentencen. noun subj. subjectpron. pronoun AVP action verb predicateadj. adjective LVP linking verb predicatev. verb BVP being verb predicateadv. adverb D.O. direct objectprep. preposition I.O. indirect objectconj. conjunction S.C. subject complementinterj. interjection O.C. object complement
Phrases Clausesprep. prepositional (phrase) indep. independent (clause)app. appositive (phrase) dep. dependent (clause)ger. gerund (phrase) I independent clausepar. participial (phrase) D dependent clauseinf. infinitive (phrase) ,cc comma and coordinating
conjunction
8
GRAMMAR IS A WAY OF THINKING ABOUT LANGUAGE.80
GR
AM
MA
R IS A W
AY OF TH
INK
ING
AB
OU
T LAN
GU
AG
E.
Sen
tence 69
Th
e die was irrev
oca
bly
cast wh
en C
aesar ordered his arm
y to cross the R
ubicon
.
adj. n. v. adv. adj. con
j. n. v. adj. n
. ------n.------- adj. n
.
______________________________________________________________________________________
subj. L
VP
S.C
. subj. A
VP
I.O. -----------------D
.O.--------------------
______________________________________________________________________________________
-----------in
fi nitive ph
rase---------
______________________________________________________________________________________
------------------indepen
dent clau
se---------------- --------------------------------------------dependen
t clause------------------------------------------
an ID
complex declarative sen
tence
______________________________________________________________________________________
G
ram
ma
r: In
the depen
dent clau
se we see an
infi n
itive phrase u
sed as the direct object. In
fi nitives can
be nou
ns or m
odifi ers (adjectives or adverbs); w
e know
that th
is one is a n
oun
because it is th
e direct object. Alth
ough
at fi rst you m
ay th
ink th
at was cast m
ight be passive voice, w
e can reason
it out from
Caesar’s w
ords, Th
e die is cast, in
wh
ich h
e com
pared sendin
g his arm
y across the river to th
e casting of dice in
gamblin
g.
V
oca
bu
lary
: T
he w
ord irrevocably mean
s beyond recall; ir m
eans n
o, re mean
s again or perh
aps back in th
is example, an
d vocm
eans voice. In
other w
ords, irrevocable is made of pieces th
at literally mean
not call back. W
24
P
oetics: T
here is good play u
sing alliteration
and con
sonan
ce on th
e k soun
d: irrevocably, cast, cross, Ru
bicon. A
key word
in each
clause begin
s with
the sou
nd: cast, cross.
W
riting
: Rem
ember n
ot to put a com
ma after an
introdu
ctory indepen
dent clau
se in an
ID com
plex senten
ce; we u
se the
comm
a wh
en th
e order is reversed: D,I.
9
GRAMMAR IS A WAY OF THINKING ABOUT LANGUAGE.
In the first line, parts of speech, there are only eight possible answers because there are only eight parts of speech (kinds of words). We would therefore, for example, identify the articles (a, an, and the) as adjectives.
In the second line, parts of sentence, we look for the subject, the simple predicate (action or linking), the direct object, indirect object, and subject complement. We can teach students what the complete predicate is, but in the analysis we are looking for the verb/simple predicate and trying to determine whether it is an action verb (AVP), a linking verb (LVP), or a being verb (BVP). If it is a linking verb, we are looking to see if there is a subject complement. There are two kinds of subject complements: the predicate nominative (if it is a noun or pronoun) and the predicate adjective (if it is an adjective). It is important to use the term subject complement because this is a key to understanding pronoun usage.
In the third and fourth lines, students should draw lines on either side of their terms to show where phrases and clauses begin and end.
Below the sentence, there are separate teaching tips about the grammar, the vocabulary, the poetics, and the writing style of the sentence. In the example at left, in the vocabulary comment, the code W24 means that the bold vocabulary word in the sentence comes from The Word Within the Word List 24.
Particularly early in the year, grading on these assignments should be lenient, giving students time to build comprehension without feeling demoralized. Give them credit for doing the assignment, rather than deducting points for each item. Build patiently. The point of the book is a positive and enlightening opportunity for lots of practice.
31
GR
AM
MA
R IS
A W
AY O
F TH
INK
ING
AB
OU
T LA
NG
UA
GE.
Sen
ten
ce 2
0
Fro
m H
.G. W
ells
’s T
he
War
of
the
Wor
lds,
189
8
“Th
ey
w
ere
a
ll
to
o
ass
idu
ou
sly
enga
ged
t
o
tal
k
to
u
s
as
w
e
pas
sed.
”
pr
on.
v
.
a
dv.
a
dv.
adv
.
a
dj.
--
----
adv.
----
-
pre
p.
pron
. c
onj.
pr
on.
v.
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
__
s
ubj
.
L
VP
S
.C.
s
ubj
.
A
VP
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
__
-
-pre
p. p
hr.
--
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
__
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
--in
depe
nde
nt
clau
se--
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
-
----
depe
nde
nt
clau
se--
---
an I
D c
ompl
ex d
ecla
rati
ve s
ente
nce
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
__
G
ram
ma
r:
Th
e se
nte
nce
sh
ows
a cl
ear
con
tras
t be
twee
n t
he
pres
ence
of t
o in
an
infi
nit
ive
and
to in
a p
repo
siti
onal
ph
rase
; we
see
to t
alk
and
to u
s, w
ith
to
talk
bei
ng
one
wor
d an
d to
us
bein
g tw
o. W
e re
gard
an
infi
nit
ive
as o
ne
wor
d, w
hic
h
is o
ne
of t
he
reas
ons
we
do n
ot s
plit
an
infi
nit
ive
wit
h a
n a
dver
b; t
o re
ally
tal
k w
ould
be
an e
rror
.
V
oca
bu
lary
: T
o be
ass
idu
ous
is t
o pe
rsev
ere,
to
sit
ther
e u
nti
l you
fin
ish
; th
e si
d is
a v
aria
tion
of
sed
, sit
. W
37
P
oet
ics:
T
he
swif
t m
otio
n o
f pas
sin
g is
su
ppor
ted
by r
isin
g m
eter
(wh
en t
he
last
syl
labl
e of
a f
oot
is s
tres
sed)
, for
med
fro
m
thre
e ia
mbs
an
d an
an
apes
t: e
n G
AG
ED
/ t
o T
AL
K /
to
US
/ a
s w
e P
AS
SE
D.
W
riti
ng
: If
we
over
load
a s
ente
nce
wit
h b
ig w
ords
, th
ey c
an, t
o so
me
exte
nt,
com
pete
wit
h o
ne
anot
her
an
d m
inim
ize
the
atte
nti
on e
ach
wor
d re
ceiv
es.
Wh
en a
sen
ten
ce h
as a
sin
gle
big
wor
d, a
s th
is o
ne
has
, we
not
ice
it m
ore.
51
GR
AM
MA
R IS
A W
AY O
F TH
INK
ING
AB
OU
T LA
NG
UA
GE.
Sen
ten
ce 4
0
Fro
m J
ames
Joy
ce’s
A P
ortr
ait
of t
he
Art
ist
as a
You
ng
Man
, 191
6
“A
fai
nt
s
tain
o
f
per
son
al
sh
ame
a
nd
c
om
mis
era
tio
n
ros
e
to
m
y
ow
n
fac
e.”
adj
.
adj
.
n.
prep
.
ad
j.
n.
co
nj.
n.
v
.
pre
p.
adj
.
adj
.
n
.
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
__
s
ubj
.
A
VP
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
__
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
-pre
p. p
hra
se--
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
---
----
----
----
prep
. ph
rase
----
----
---
__
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
-
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
-in
depe
nde
nt
clau
se--
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
-
a
sim
ple
decl
arat
ive
sen
ten
ce
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
__
G
ram
ma
r:
If t
his
sen
ten
ce w
ere
in p
rese
nt
ten
se,
we
wou
ld h
ave
the
clas
sic
subj
ect/
verb
agr
eem
ent
trap
. B
ecau
se t
he
prep
osit
ion
al p
hra
se in
terv
enes
bet
wee
n t
he
subj
ect
and
its
verb
, th
ere
wou
ld b
e gr
eat
dan
ger
of w
riti
ng,
“A
fai
nt
stai
n o
f pe
rson
al s
ham
e an
d co
mm
iser
atio
n r
ise
to m
y ow
n f
ace,
” bu
t st
ain
ris
es, i
n G
ram
mar
lan
d.
V
oca
bu
lary
: T
o co
mm
iser
ate
is t
o sy
mpa
thiz
e; c
om m
ean
s to
geth
er, a
nd
the
Lat
in m
iser
ari
mea
ns
lam
ent.
W44
P
oet
ics:
L
ook
at t
he
ragi
ng
asso
nan
ce in
th
is s
ente
nce
: A fA
int s
tAin
sh
Am
e co
mm
iser
Ati
on fA
ce; a
ll o
f th
e ke
y w
ords
in t
he
thou
ght
are
wov
en t
oget
her
wit
h a
sson
ance
. T
he
sen
ten
ce a
lmos
t so
un
ds r
ever
bera
nt,
like
an
ech
o.
W
riti
ng
: N
otic
e h
ow m
uch
of t
he
burd
en o
f th
ough
t is
car
ried
by
the
core
pre
posi
tion
al p
hra
se; t
ake
it o
ut,
an
d th
e se
nte
nce
st
ill h
as s
ome
expl
ain
ing
to d
o.
81
GR
AM
MA
R IS
A W
AY O
F TH
INK
ING
AB
OU
T LA
NG
UA
GE.
Sen
ten
ce 7
0
Fro
m J
osep
h C
onra
d’s
Lor
d J
im, 1
900
“Th
ere
w
as
th
e
mak
ing
o
f
a
sa
ng
uin
ary
shin
dy
in
the
t
hin
g.”
a
dv.
v
.
a
dj.
n.
pre
p.
adj.
adj
.
n.
pre
p.
adj
.
n.
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
__
B
VP
-
----
---s
ubj
.---
----
--
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
__
--ge
run
d ph
rase
--
-
----
----
----
----
--pr
ep. p
hra
se--
----
----
----
----
--
---
----
-pre
p. p
hra
se--
----
--
__
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
---
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
inde
pen
den
t cl
ause
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
a
sim
ple
decl
arat
ive
sen
ten
ce
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
__
G
ram
ma
r:
Th
e su
bjec
t of
th
e se
nte
nce
is
a sm
all
geru
nd
phra
se,
the
mak
ing;
a g
eru
nd
is a
ver
b fo
rm u
sed
as a
nou
n.
Th
e ad
verb
th
ere
is o
ften
use
d, a
s h
ere,
to
intr
odu
ce a
su
bjec
t in
wh
ich
th
e ve
rb p
rece
des
the
subj
ect.
V
oca
bu
lary
: T
he
adje
ctiv
e sa
ngu
inar
y m
ean
s bl
oody
; san
gui
mea
ns
bloo
d. A
sh
indy
is a
noi
sy d
istu
rban
ce o
r qu
arre
l. W
54
P
oet
ics:
N
otic
e h
ow c
lose
th
e en
din
gs o
f ke
y w
ords
res
embl
e on
e an
oth
er: m
akin
g th
ing
san
guin
ary
shin
dy.
W
riti
ng
: T
he
use
of t
he
intr
odu
ctor
y th
ere
has
bee
n c
onde
mn
ed fo
r pr
omot
ing
wor
din
ess,
bu
t it
has
th
e so
met
imes
nec
essa
ry
effe
ct o
f em
phas
izin
g th
at s
omet
hin
g ex
ists
.
101
GR
AM
MA
R IS
A W
AY O
F TH
INK
ING
AB
OU
T LA
NG
UA
GE.
Sen
ten
ce 9
0
Fro
m W
illi
am S
hak
espe
are’
s M
acbe
th, 1
606
“No,
t
his
,
my
h
and,
w
ill
ra
ther
t
he
m
ult
itu
din
ous
s
eas
i
nca
rna
din
e.”
inte
rj.
pro
n.
a
dj.
n.
v
.
adv.
ad
j.
adj
.
n
.
v.
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
__
s
ubj
.
AV
P--
--
D
.O.
---
-AV
P
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
__
-
appo
siti
ve p
hr.
-
__
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
---
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
---i
nde
pen
den
t cl
ause
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
---
a si
mpl
e de
clar
ativ
e se
nte
nce
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
__
G
ram
ma
r:
Now
, th
is i
s a
sen
ten
ce.
Th
e m
agn
itu
de o
f S
hak
espe
are
beco
mes
vis
ible
as
we
real
ize
that
we
hav
e n
ever
see
n a
st
ruct
ure
lik
e th
is b
efor
e, w
ith
th
e di
rect
obj
ect
in t
he
mid
dle
of t
he
verb
. S
hak
espe
are
is u
sin
g in
carn
adin
e (t
o tu
rn r
ed) a
s an
act
ion
ver
b in
th
e fu
ture
ten
se, w
ill
inca
rnad
ine,
an
d th
e di
rect
obj
ect
is b
etw
een
th
e h
elpi
ng
verb
an
d th
e m
ain
ver
b, w
ill
the
seas
in
carn
adin
e. B
y do
ing
that
, he
can
pu
t th
e h
orro
r of
a b
lood
-red
sea
at
the
end.
V
oca
bu
lary
: In
carn
adin
e is
usu
ally
a n
oun
or
an a
djec
tive
mea
nin
g cr
imso
n; c
arn
mea
ns
fles
h.
W60
P
oet
ics:
T
he
pow
er o
f th
e se
nte
nce
is
in t
he
grim
hop
eles
snes
s of
th
e fa
llin
g rh
yth
m, c
ompo
sed
of m
etri
cal
feet
th
at b
egin
w
ith
str
esse
s an
d en
d in
wea
knes
s. W
e se
e gr
oups
of
troc
hee
s an
d da
ctyl
s: T
HIS
my
/ H
and
wil
l /
RA
th
er t
he
/
MU
LT
i /
TU
D i
n o
us
/ S
EA
S i
n /
CA
RN
a d
ine.
Th
e w
eigh
t of
th
e id
ea is
car
ried
in t
he
rhyt
hm
.
W
riti
ng
: If
we
wan
t to
see
wri
tin
g at
th
e h
igh
est
leve
ls o
f gen
ius
and
orig
inal
ity,
Sh
akes
pear
e is
th
e pl
ace
to lo
ok.
Stu
den
ts
wh
o w
ant
to w
rite
can
not
rea
d en
ough
of
Sh
akes
pear
e’s
play
s an
d po
etry
.